OK, "The Ring" was simply too exciting to waste any time with opening blather, so let's get on with it, shall we?

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I liked the opening. Gabrielle is more like Xena all the time. Here, she's the lead warrior, and she's got two sidekicks with her. She's tough, focused, and in charge. And, like Xena, she just knows things--like Xena's still alive. Considering how quickly Brunhilda and Beowolf are ready to give up searching for Xena, perhaps they like it like this. Later on, we find out they really like it like this! But more on that later. Here, it's just foreshadowing.

It was funny the way Gabrielle was collecting Xena's "parts" on the search. She had the breastplate she lost in "The Rheingold" slung over her shoulder, and now she finds Xena's wrist thingie. I was expecting her to find Xena's detached arm or something next. "Here, Xena, I think you lost this."

And, yes, Gabrielle does indeed look more adorable than last episode!

Suddenly, Xena reaches out from behind a tree and grabs Gabs. Yes, they are finally back together, and the opening credits haven't even begun to roll! This episode immediately fixed my two biggest problems with the last episode: I didn't think Xena would've run off without Gabrielle, and, boom!, they're already back together. I also thought Xena would come up with some clever plan to defeat Grindl rather than simply march into a suicidal situation. As we are about to see, Xena now has a plan. OK, now we're ready for a rip-roaring episode! Clear the decks!

I'm a sucker for the Xena and Gabrielle scenes, and when Gabrielle grabs her lost friend and gives her a big hug, saying "Don't ever leave me again!" I wanted to cry (being too manly, I of course refrained).

Speaking of recycling episodes of yore, this began to get definite overtones of "A Comedy of Eros." Is there a baby cupid running around shooting arrows into people? Brunhilda and Beowolf are both smitten by Gabrielle, and all Gabrielle does throughout the show is run after Xena. Where's Draco? It's kind of strange, since Beowolf has barely met the bard, but perhaps he's going by Xena's "You'd like her" remark from last week. She's Xena, she must know what she's talking about. The Brunhilda thing is a little more bizarre. Brun begins by wanting to be a take-no-guff warrior like the old Xena, but then she falls for Gabrielle, and I got the distinct impression she would've welcomed a romantic tryst with the bard. She didn't just want Gab's philosophy, she wanted Gabrielle herself. This subtext was not very "sub." However, I thought the whole setup was pretty funny. Brun doesn't have a clue what kind of dynamic she's trying to break up here! And I don't think Gabrielle knows what to make of a girl coming on to her.

This setup provides for some rather comical bits, such as here when Brun and Beo run up to find Xena thrashed to within an inch of her life, covered in blood and a few remaining bits of her outfit, and all they want to know is if Gabrielle's alright. Ha ha!

I have said I felt Brunhilda was hiding something, and the first inkling we have is when she first meets Xena. It's great watching her gush, and Xena appears flattered by the attention. Then Brunhilda says, "Weaklings don't like you." Immediately, I realized the girl was fixated on the old, that is, evil, Xena, since nobody from this land knew about her changes later in her life. "I have the utmost respect for you and your philosophy." Yeah--her EVIL philosophy! This girl was a time bomb waiting to go off. Cool! And we've only begun to peel back her layers, as we find out later.

Now Xena says, "Gabrielle, I know better than to try to talk you into leaving...." Where's this level-headed thinking last week? Apparently her mental fog has lifted, and now we're ready to see her at her peak.

Brunhilda says she won't leave Gabrielle behind to flee to safety. No surprise there. Beowolf says, "Me, too," and looks directly at Xena. I thought he meant "me, too," I'm staying (since he and Xena had been through so much together so far), but on watching this again, his eyes shift at the end to Gabrielle and he smiles a bit. Apparently, he meant "me, too," I'm not letting Gabrielle out of my sight. I'm waiting for Brunhilda and Beowolf to start a fight over her, but unfortunately, nothing ever develops along that line.

All this before the opening credits! Wow! I felt like the guy in the Memorex ad, my hands grabbing the arm rests as my hair sails out behind my head, my cheeks puffing out from the g-forces! I could tell already this was going to be one overdrive kind of episode.

Well, we find out Grindl is a "she," and immediately, I knew it had to be Grinhilda. The names are just too similar. However, like many things in this episode, all was not quite what it seemed.

I found it interesting how, during the flashback, Grinhilda comes off as the good guy. She's trying to save her homeland from the ravages of the pre-good Xena. Very honorable. Her desire to do the right and honorable thing turns her into the bad guy here, a crazed monster trying to kill Xena and, well, everyone! Nice plot twist. The evil power of the ring begins to overwhelm Grinhilda before she has a chance to kill Xena. Anybody not see that one coming?

I'm still trying to figure out the fine points of this Rheingold stuff. They keep saying you lose what you hold most dear, implying you lose the single most importing thing to yourself. Yet Grinhilda loses her humanity and her beauty. That's two things. Or, if the writers are equating the two, does this mean they are sending out the message that without beauty, you have no humanity? Or that only humans are beautiful? Or what? Later on, Xena also loses two things: her memory of Gabrielle and her sense of self. And they keep saying the Rheingold will make you invincible. That means you can't be defeated, yet we see Xena defeat the monster while it has the ring on. The monster should've won, if it's truly invincible. Maybe the monster hadn't forsaken love? My head is beginning to hurt.

For a monster who inspires such fear into even Xena, it stands there pretty passively while Xena chops its ring finger off. I'm telling you, if Xena can handle the Destroyer, she can handle this thing just as easily.

Xena finally wrestles Grinhilda into the mine and locks her in, as we saw last week. "I wanted her to suffer with her own ugliness forever," Xena says. That's cold!

Back in the present, Xena taunts the monster into the trap they have set in the cave. Reminds me of the scene in "A Day In the Life" when she gets the Cyclops to follow her with the kite on his belt. It was a nice change of pace when the monster sees the trap and runs away.

The best line of the show then comes up. Xena sees the monster running off, and shouts "Stay here!" to her helpers above the cave mouth. Gabrielle immediately jumps down and runs into the cave to accompany Xena. "I thought I told you not to come in here?" Xena says. Looking her straight in the face, Gabrielle says without missing a beat, "I never listen," just matter-of-factly. I was almost too busy laughing to watch the ensuing battle. The writing on this show is just so top notch.

So the monster drops in to attack. If I were Gabrielle, I'd want a weapon with a bit more reach on it, like a sword. She's got to get in dangerously close to use her sais on this thing, and she takes a few blows for her efforts. Actually, the whole group gets beaten about quite well during this scene. This monster may be slow and ponderous, but it seems to just thrash about until everything around it is dead. Whatever works for ya!

The monster doesn't look so much like the Destroyer now, but with that little beard it has, I thought it should've been playing saxophone in a downtown jazz club. Perhaps a nice black beret?

The cave caves in (well, what else are they supposed to do?) partially, and most of the conversation during the rest of the battle consists of

Xena: "Ahh, ugh!"
Monster: "Grrrr!"
Gabrielle: "Xena!"
Brunhilda and Beowolf, alternately: "Gabrielle!"

Again, why did Xena leave Gabrielle behind originally? Here, Xena's finally caught by the monster and looks to be about to lose the fight. Gabrielle finds Xena's chakram lying close by, and she jumps on the monster's back, hacking away with the chakram. This had the same cathartic thrill as watching her slice and dice Romans in "Ides of March." Don't mess with Xena, or you'll have to answer to a very pissed Gabrielle! Although she doesn't kill the monster outright, this provides the turning point which allows Xena to regroup for final victory. Xena better not be running off without Gabrielle again!

And what does the creature do? It basically stands there waving it's arms in the air as Xena uses the chakram to rip open its guts. Stupid monster! We see the monster is wearing the Rheingold ring, so the "invincible" monster is defeated. Where's the logic there?

Enemy defeated, episode over! Still got a half hour to kill--perhaps we'll see Lucy and Renee showering off after filming. No, wait, there's more!....

Xena seems to feel that since she cut off one of monster Grinhilda's fingers in the flashback, this isn't the same monster since it has all its fingers. Hey Xena, what if this is a kind of monster which can regenerate limbs? Perhaps it regrew one? But of course, Xena is right, being her show and all. They hear another creature roar in the distance. Grinhilda!

We see another raven come down to observe the action, and that usually bodes ill. Certainly Brunhilda looks concerned when she spies it on the branch. We saw the birds in Valhalla last week, so of course they turn out to be Odin's spies, reporting back to him. So Brun and Odin are connected in some way. Hmmmm....

Brunhilda is amazed that Xena's going to actually deliver the ring back to the Rhein Maidens (who really deserve to keep it at this point--not!). Gabrielle tells her there is more to fight for than power, like love and friendship. These concepts seem new to Brunhilda, but she seems to be soaking them up like a sponge. Perhaps her admiration of the evil Xena won't have such a bad affect on her after all. Xena gives her a withering glance, like she's tired of hearing Brunhilda going on and on.

Xena sends Brunhilda to scout ahead, and immediately she tells Gabrielle she thinks Brunhilda is hiding something. "She believes in exactly what I used to believe in. I don't trust her." Xena, know thyself! Like I've said all along! Do I know this show or what?

I notice at this point that Gabrielle is running around without her winter coat on. No wonder she looks all red-nosed and cold. I'll bet her poor nose is running. Of course, Xena's not dressed much more warmly, although her midriff is covered. Even Brunhilda's not wearing much more for warmth than a loose-fitting cape. Beowolf is the only one dressed appropriately. I get chills just watching this.

Of course, as Brunhilda treks up ahead, she runs into Odin, now tipped off by the raven. We find out that Brun is actually one of the Valkyrie, and has been sent as Odin's agent to get the ring from Xena (the preferred method of procurement being assassination). But she's fallen for Gabrielle and her message of peace! Oh, my! We've peeled the layers off Brunhilda's onion, and it blew up in our faces! She has become the most interesting character of this whole Norse saga so far. She's being pulled in several directions all at once, and there's no way she can please everyone, and whoever she pisses off most will probably be out to kill her. We have absolutely no idea where this girl's loyalties lie or what she will do next (although we have a faint feeling that Xena will ultimately prevail). Man, this is getting so multi-layered, and I love the way I can't tell from one minute to the next where the story will go.

Odin finally tells Brunhilda: "My ravens, they tell me you've fallen in love with her partner." Well, cat's out of the bag on that one now! And Brun mutters, "Those mangy stool pigeons." I'll bet them's fighting words to a raven! Ooo-burn!

So now Odin begins to show some intelligence. I was having my doubts. He adjusts his plans a bit and decides to capture Gabrielle and trade her to Xena for the ring. Sounds like a simple plan, but even simple plans can go horribly awry. I'm surprised Odin allows Brunhilda to run off since I don't think he trusts her any more.

The Valkyrie attack Xena, Gabrielle and Beowolf, attempting to grab the bard. Suddenly, Brunhilda the wild card swoops down on one of those nifty flying horses and absconds with her instead. Everyone looks up surprised, and we see Brun is acting on her own at this point. Now we've got three sides battling it out! The episode just keeps piling on layer after layer of cunning plot! What a ride! But if Gabrielle is gone, why do the Valkyrie keep fighting?

I had to laugh when Odin shows up. "Enough! Let's talk about this." Even he could see no point to it, and he ends up acting very Gabrielleishly (is that a word?) and seeks to find resolution in discussion. "Thirty five years," he says to Xena. "You look amazing for a mortal." He apparently doesn't know about the twenty five year frozen sleep, and Xena doesn't see fit to fill him in, letting him think that aging gracefully is also one of her skills.

Then Odin lets out one more secret: Xena didn't kill Grinhilda, but rather Grinhilda's son. Ah ha! So, Grindl is actually the son, while Grinhilda was always Grinhilda. Even Xena hadn't caught on to that yet. I'm just about exhausted from these constant plots twists and revelations! But oh, how brilliantly it ties all the loose ends together!

Nice touch when Xena asks if Odin has forsaken love (thereby giving him the ability to use the ring's power). He replies, "After you, it wasn't very hard." Yow! He's got a bad case of the warrior princess! I was expecting Ares to pop up and fight Odin for Xena's hand! So many potential cat fights in this episode!

I can't quite figure out why, if he's a god, Odin doesn't just grab Xena and take the ring from her at this point. I guess that would be too easy (the gods can't do everything, or they'd always win of course). Or perhaps he's afraid of her god-killing powers, which he seems to be well aware of.

Brunhilda finally touches down with Gabrielle, and they have an interesting exchange. When Gabrielle expresses concern over Xena's safety, Brunhilda asks, "Is Xena all you think about?" Duh--of course! Even Gabrielle stutters at first, not sure how to answer such an obvious question. "She-- Xena's my family. She's the most important thing in my life!" This leads to Brunhilda breaking down and admitting her feelings for Gabrielle and admitting she defied her god for the lovely bard. "I bring to Valhalla the bravest warriors slain in battle, heroes! But your heart has more truth and courage than any that I've seen. The beauty inside you burns like a star, Gabrielle!" This is what I've been sayin'! The usually warm one offers up a chilling, "Sorry!" for Brunhilda's confessions. But I'm starting to like this Brunhilda, except her fanaticism is still a bit disturbing. She started out following evil Xena's evil path, and now here she is, smart enough to realize when people are offering her a better way to live. Of course, she's still got a couple of kinks to work out, like her insane jealousy of Xena!

Gabrielle attempts to explain the way things are between herself and Xena ("We're soul mates!") to Brunhilda. Suddenly, Brunhilda realizes that if she kills Xena, she won't have anyone else vying for Gabrielle's affections. She draws her sword and goes off to prove to Gabrielle who is more "deserving" of her love. Like I said, she's still got a few kinks to work out in her new philosophy. Fortunately, she's got a good friend there to help her through this ill-conceived plan.

Beowolf says he'd go through the fiery pits of Hell for Gabrielle. Again, he hardly knows her! Of course, she does tend to wear her charm on her sleeve, as it were.

Odin finally wises up, joins forces with Grinhilda and the Valkyries, and attacks Xena head on. Xena offers to put him with the other Olympian gods. Right on, Xena! This leads to a great fight sequence, with a highlight being the way Xena uses her chakram to bounce around the trees and pin down Odin. Love those wild chakram tosses!

Beowolf gets gored by one of the Valkyrie, and normally in this show, the wound would be bad enough to cause death, but here we see his frozen breath rising, so we know he might still have a last gasp or two. Boy, did I underestimate his recuperative powers!

Xena finds herself backed into a corner, or a tree-trunk in this case. Her only way out, as she sees it, is to use the ring to get a quick godly powers fix, and worry about the consequences later. Is Gabrielle, being the thing Xena values the most, going to die yet again? I hope not, because that's beginning to get predictable. Again, as we see, the writers avoid the predictable.

Xena puts on the ring, and her chakram and sword jump up from the ground straight into her hands. Excellent! Some kick ass is coming down the pike! Odin tries to stop her with fireballs, but she deflects them back onto her enemies, including Odin himself. She uses their own power against them. During the ensuing battle, every time a Valkyrie lifts her arms up over her head with a sword, Xena stabs their exposed midsections. Hey, Valkyries: quit doing that! Then, as Xena vanquishes the last one, she shows a strange expression on her face, and you think perhaps she's losing the interior fight with the ring. Look out, Gabrielle! The sweat is running down my forehead at this point. OK, it's wasn't, but it should've been!

A few remaining Valkyries swoop down to attack Brunhilda and Gabrielle, who's trying to talk some sense into her. After joining together to fight their common enemy, Gabrielle finally confronts Brunhilda. "What are you fighting for? You want to win my love?" (Is Gabrielle offering her love?) "You're going to shed blood, for what? For me? You call that love?" Long pause. "You're sick!!!" I think Gabrielle's look of disgust, along with her little lip curl, cut Brunhilda worse than her words did. You can see Brun thinking it over, that perhaps love and killing don't go hand in hand. Again, I think Brunhilda's a smart chick, and it doesn't take her long to figure out the truth in Gabrielle's words. You can see it on her face. She's a bit embarrassed to be brought down by Gabs, but she's already thinking about how she'll live up to the new challenges of following her new philosophy--check out the steely glint in her eyes as the scene fades out.

Meanwhile, Xena's still fighting off Odin, Grinhilda, and some newly arrived Valkyries, although with a bit more success than before. Grinhilda's especially taking a hard chopping to the midsection, and Odin still thinks fireballs are the way to go. Suddenly, Xena hears Gabrielle's voice, and you know that's the reminder of her unforsaken love. At this point, the ring's power has almost taken control, and Xena leaves the battle (via an excellent aerial summersault), Odin, Grin and the rest still alive and kicking.

In a final unexpected twist, it turns out that the ring doesn't harm Gabrielle, but rather erases Xena's memory of her (and therefore all the good things she's learned from her). I've seen piles of spaghetti straighter than the plot of this episode.

By now Brunhilda has seen that the way to Gabrielle's heart is to embrace love and friendship, and she goes off to find Xena. She shows her real colors when she finds Xena sans her memories. She could very easily have taken advantage of Xena, but instead she talks her out of the ring, and entrusts it to Gabrielle's safe keeping. All that's left now is to protect Gabrielle from Odin, and she's got that figured out as well. Go, Brunhilda!

Nice comic/forbidding touch when Xena examines her nice shiny toy, that is, her chakram. The sharp blade cuts into her hand, and blood trickles down her wrist. This imagery haunts me for some reason. She drops the bloody chakram on the ground next to her cast-off sword, and she leaves. We're seeing the Xena from "Chakram" again.

Now, we find out about the fire-starting skill Xena learned last week. Here, we find that Brunhilda, as a Valkyrie, also learned the same skill as Xena, and she uses that power to protect Gabrielle. Will Xena show her power later, or was that a red herring used so that we'd be surprised when we see Brunhilda use it? Whatever, it was genius! Brunhilda says to Gabrielle, "I'll become an eternal flame for you. Only your true soul mate will be able to pass through the fire." (Can anyone say, "Xena?") "You'll be safe." Awwwwww! Suddenly, she chants a few words and becomes a roaring flame! Gabrielle can apparently sense her good intentions, as she doesn't flinch or run in fear, but rather stays with Brunhilda. "See, Gabrielle, you have changed me!" No kidding! Gabs kind of sets me on fire too, but I certainly don't burst into actual flame (but I probably could under the proper conditions)! Brunhilda forms a ring of fire with herself (another twist on the episode title) and then spreads out to encircle Gabrielle. The imagery is simply stunning! Then, as the fire sweeps over her, Gabrielle magically changes outfits and becomes a gorgeous fairy princess (for lack of a better description at this point). Oh, Gabrielle, break my heart, you are so beautiful! And then, the magic drops her off into a slumber, only to be awakened by Xena's kiss (they don't say it, but you know how fairy tales go!).

Suddenly, we cut back to the scene of Beowolf's stabbing. For having been completely run through with a big sword, he hops up and goes running after Xena with nary a limp or groan to show for his injury. Sorry, but even on this show, that was a bit overdone! Or is there more to Beowolf than he's letting on? Is he a god himself, or have some magical healing powers? In this story line, I anticipate nothing! All is fluid.

A quick cut to Gabrielle finally dozing off with the ring, and a quick cut to Xena, lost in the woods, hearing voices, and crying out, "Who am I?!" over and over. Would this be a good point to place the "To Be Continued" banner? Obviously!

Loved the disclaimer: "Gabrielle's popularity soared during the making of this motion picture." Oh, yeah!

OK, we have the same situation as last week. We're left with a zillion loose ends. Odin and Grinhilda are still on the loose. How are they going to get the ring back to the Rhein Maidens? How will Xena function with her brain all discombobulated? What if Odin gets the ring first, and he truly has forsaken love? Will we see Gabrielle next week, or will she sleep through the whole thing? But unlike last week, I don't have any trouble coming up with a rating. This was definitely a five chakram affair, a Xena episode of the highest caliber! The only reason I might not give it a five is due to the fact I can't go higher next week! If part three is as much better than part two as part two was better than part one (following me here?), we'll have our first ten chakram episode next week, and I wouldn't put it past them! I mean, the plot alone just shifted and turned, frustrating every attempt to figure out what's going to happen next. A real roller coaster ride of a show! Odin's showing signs of intelligence, the monster has proven to have sides (or offspring) we didn't expect, and Brunhilda has shown herself to be one of the most intricate characters ever introduced on XWP, and now she's fighting alongside Xena and Gabrielle. Gabrielle's and Xena's love for each other shines through everything like a brilliant flame (in keeping with this week's imagery), and it was fun watching Beowolf and Brunhilda trying to get some of Gabrielle's action. The writing was as sharp as ever, and all the actors were positively brilliant (well, Odin was serviceable), with a special honorable mention to Brittney Powell for giving us a performance which allowed us into the twisted head of Brunhilda (after playing her as a cipher last week). Her facial expressions were worthy of Lucy herself (and Lucy wasn't exactly slumming in this one). And don't get me started on the brilliant score by Joe LoDuca (and when has he been anything but brilliant?). This was simply breathtaking television in every way. Part three? Bring it on!
Rick(Gabriologist since the late 20th Century)
Visit my web site at ricks-studio.com for Episode Reviews,
Humorous Quotes, and other Xena-themed writing!

"When do we get to wear the pointy helmets with the horns?" --Gabrielle
"That's so yesterday, Gabrielle. The ones with wings--now that's cool!" --Xena
"No, losing my winter coat is cool." --Gabrielle, shivering